Twelfth Session
When last we left the party, they were about to convince Talith and Raul that hunting down an agent of the Crown (the presumed warlock and demon who set the forest fire on Ayleen's behalf) was an awesome idea. Persuading Talith and Raul was surprisingly easy- Raul knows Verdun and thinks he's honest about the deal, Talith knows that employing demons is illegal and there's a bounty for slaying them. New plan: take spellcaster (warlock?) alive if possible, use as leverage against Ayleen since she may have broken the law via these shenanigans. During the night Celia had a vision-visit from the Lady of the Lasting Embrace that didn't require her to poison herself. In the morning Verdun and Leonita rejoin the party. They inform that the Orcs and Bullywugs have left and are safe. The forest on the other side of the river is still on fire. After a planning session, during which characters who know about demons share their knowledge, the party sets out to track the source of the fire. Marching order setting out to the center of the fire: # Raul # Alice # Celia # Max # Ishaq # Alana # Sol # Markoris # Fishboy # Verdun # Leonita # Talia # Corym # Tismora # Talith Crossing river and through the ash field, the party heads back to the site of the former bandit camp and the dead chimeras. Fin tries to eat the roasted chimera- it's gamey. They also find clawed, three-toed footprints, and then split into a staggered marching order: Alice, Alana in weasel form, and Verdun stealthily scouting 80 feet ahead. Scouts track down voices ahead - 2, speaking Abyssal, on a road, fifty feet away from the treeline. The warlock is an Elven woman, with pale skin and dark blue hair with a patched technicolor jacket over leather armour. 'Fucking hot' according to DM. Ishaq and Markoris discussed their thorough demonic knowledge regarding the demon that Alana, as a weasel, had spied upon. They informed the rest of the party of this specific demon's resistances and tendency towards telepathy. -The demon is a mighty beast with four arms and giant pincers. Alana somehow manages to draw the demon in ash for the party while in weasel form, which fortunately some people recognize as a GLABREZU: damage resistance, spellcasting abilities, and telepathy. Despite the odds, the decision is made to launch a surprise attack: a few magic people try to lock down the spellcaster, everyone else tries to pile on to the demon before it destroys everyone. -Alana gives Ishaq fire resistance -Celia casts Resistance on Max -group Stealth check to get in position SURPRISE ROUND # Ishaq - disguises himself as a demon, runs out and casts Charm Person on the warlock, which fails against her wisdom check, so employing a Quickened Spell with his Metamagic, issues Magic Missile at 3rd level to inflict 16 HP damage upon the warlock # Alana - casts Entangle (Demon has +9 strength!!), snares the warlock, does not snare the demon # Alice - moves 20 feet into range, uses Turn the Faithless on the demon, WIS saving throw against being turned, Alice succeeds! Creature is turned until it takes damage # Verdun - attacks demon and warlock with Hail of Thorns, inflicting 15 damage on warlock and 7 damage on the demon. This immediately cancels Alice's spell. # Celia - runs 30 feet out of trees, casts Toll of the Dead on the demon (demon has +7 to WIS saves), inflicts no damage because demon makes its save # Markoris - fires bow at warlock, 10 damage # Corym - casts Heroism on Fishboy, Fishboy now immune to fear and gains temp hit points each turn # Talia - casts Heroism on Max, immune to fear and gains 3 temp hit points each turn # Talith - fires crossbow at demon, misses twice, runs 30 feet toward enemy # Raul - shortbow attack at demon, scores Sneak Attack, 9 damage # Sol - 3rd level magic missile against demon, 19 damage # Leonita - casts Shatter at 4th-level on enemies, both must make CON saves, both succeed, 13 damage to warlock, 6 damage to the demon # Max - runs out and throw javelin and handaxe, javelin hits for 3 damage # Tismora - runs out raging and throws hammer, 4 damage # Fishboy - runs out raging and Reckless Attacks demon twice, 11 damage -Surprise round over, session ends with everyone about to roll initiative and begin the fight in earnest